Bangladesh court seeks arrest of ex-PM Zia in bus attack

FILE-In this Jan. 5, 2016 file photo, Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, looks on at a protest rally to mark the second anniversary of a general election boycotted by a major opposition alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi court Wednesday, March 30, 2016 issued arrest warrants for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 other opposition party leaders on accusations they instigated an arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest last year.(AP Photo/ A.M. Ahad, file) (The Associated Press)

FILE-In this Jan. 5, 2016 file photo, Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, smiles at a protest rally to mark the second anniversary of a general election boycotted by a major opposition alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi court Wednesday, March 30, 2016 issued arrest warrants for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 other opposition party leaders on accusations they instigated an arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest last year.(AP Photo/ A.M. Ahad, file) (The Associated Press)

DHAKA, Bangladesh – A Bangladeshi court has issued arrest warrants for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 other opposition party leaders on accusations they instigated an arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest last year.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah made the order Wednesday after accepting the charges pressed by detectives that Zia instigated the violence when she asked her supporters to enforce a blockade to remove the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Defense lawyers argued the case was politically motivated and the accused were not involved in any violence.

The Jan. 23 attack on a bus in Dhaka killed one person and injured 30.

The judge asked police to report to the court on April 27 on what has been done to execute the warrants.